In a meeting with the special energy committee and the All Pakistan Textile Mills Association last week, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar reportedly repented the constitutional reform that blocked the additional supply of natural gas to provinces other than those where it was being produced.
“Had we known the decision would be interpreted this way, I would have insisted that it was drafted in a different way,” he was quoted to have told the Aptma delegation. The group informed Dar that textile mills in Punjab were being compelled to move out to other provinces, if not to other countries, due to the gas shortage and loss of competitiveness.
However, at the time, the major thrust of the PML-N’s bargain was to remove the condition that barred anybody from being elected prime minister after two terms. Everything else was secondary.
Not that the 18th constitution amendment brought something new regarding gas utilisation. In fact, the original 1973 constitution guaranteed a vague commitment that remained unfulfilled for almost 40 years as long as the remote Balochistan kept engines, machinery and stoves running, spoiling the habits of urbanites with virtually free natural gas.
Article 158 of the constitution promised that “the provinces in which a well-head of natural gas is situated shall have precedence over other parts of Pakistan in meeting the requirements from the well-head, subject to the commitments and obligations as on the commencing day”.
The irony was that this commencement day materialised after 40 years, when Balochistan’s proven resources had been mostly exhausted.
In fact, the 18th amendment diluted this a bit, without touching Article 158. Article 172 (3), inserted in the constitution through the amendment, said, “subject to the existing commitments and obligations, mineral oil and natural gas within the province or the territorial waters adjacent thereto shall vest jointly and equally in that province and the federal government”.
By this time, a lot of prior commitments had already been established in provinces other than those that were major gas producers. Also, the political and military governments kept on increasing gas allocations through new CNG stations and politically motivated gas schemes during the previous decade.
Gas has become a scarce commodity in Punjab, pitting the textile, fertiliser power industries against each other. This is despite their nine-month supply contracts. The CNG sector has since been elbowed out, and residential consumers — although a political priority — seldom get the gas they require.
In fact, the government has now decided to provide gas to domestic consumers in three shifts a day, with total supply of 12 hours. How this would be achieved technically remains a question. On the other hand, their counterparts in other provinces enjoy almost no shortage at all or face minor rationing.
